Eluding Memory

Chapter 2

I had all but forgotten about the kettle and the bedside lamp the next day. It was a peaceful Saturday, and I had slept in until around two in the afternoon. I was well rested and feeling happy. When I went to the kitchen to decide what to eat, I didn't notice anything unusual. I rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a few vegetables. While peeling and dicing them, I was singing along to a song that was stuck in my head after hearing it on social media. Unfortunately, a phrase in the song reminded me of that one time in college when I signed up for a singing competition. I had practiced fairly well for a week but fell completely off-pitch on stage. I couldn't find my way back to the right note but somehow didn't stop. Amidst the otherwise silent auditorium, I could hear snickers and people whispering loudly. When I finally stopped, I just awkwardly stood there for half a minute and then left the stage and went straight home.

The memory made me cringe, and I forced my attention back to the vegetables, back onto chopping the poor carrot with enough force to break the cutting board itself. The song began playing in my head again. It started getting louder the more irritated I got. Within a few seconds, it was like I was sitting in the middle of a surround sound system playing at full volume. The background instrumentals in the song sounded crystal clear, and the vocalist's voice felt like it was coming from right behind me. It sounded so realistic that I genuinely turned around to see if someone was there behind me.

I recognised that the song was leading up to that phrase again and let out an annoyed 'tsk'. Suddenly, the song started playing from the beginning again. When it got to that part, it rewound to the beginning again. A few plays later, I felt sick of the song, and, right at that moment, it stopped playing, and a voice said "disconnected." I recognised that as the sound of my speaker; only I hadn't turned it on or connected it to any device that day. I thought maybe I had forgotten to switch it off, and it got disconnected now due to low battery. That didn't explain the song rewinding from the same point on its own.

My stomach growled loudly, and I turned my attention back to the vegetables and my lunch. I cooked a simple but hearty meal and sat down in front of the television while I was waiting for the food to be done. I was scrolling through the channels to see if there was anything interesting when I came across an advertisement for a soap. A child exclaimed "Mummy!" and ran to her mother, who picked her up and continued talking to a man who was next to her. When the man called the mother's name, I found it vaguely familiar. The ad continued with an ear-worm jingle while I tried to remember why that name felt so familiar. A few minutes later, I remembered that that was the name of my second grade teacher in school. The teacher who had taught me how to tell the times three table, who had laughed at my lame jokes, and who I had accidentally called "Mummy," just like the girl in the ad. I face-palmed at the memory and quickly turned off the TV. All I was looking for was an interesting movie to watch or maybe a beloved classic to re-watch, not a morning showcase of the every-night embarrassing memory parade.

I ran to the kitchen and saw that the food was done. After serving some onto a plate, I came back outside to hear a familiar theme song. One of my favourite movies was playing on the television. I thought I turned it off; how was it still on? And how was it playing exactly this movie? I wanted to think more about it, but the hunger was making my brain feel hazy, so I decided to have a nice lunch with the movie and think about it later. I finished my meal and watched the entire movie without thinking about it. After the movie, I switched off the TV and went to pack up the leftovers and wash the dishes. I put the leftovers in the fridge and returned to the living room when I heard my phone ringing. It was a close friend calling me to go out for dinner. While we were brainstorming where we could go, I remembered the TV and turned towards it. It was off, and it remained off for the entirety of the forty minutes my friend and I spoke. It was also off when I got ready and left the house. It was also off when I returned home after dinner that night. The only problem was that it wouldn't switch on again.

I called tech support, I tried all the buttons on the TV, and even the good old smack the remote control technique, but none of it worked. I decided to leave it be until the next morning and went to sleep. I was awakened in the middle of the night by a peppy song playing loudly. I checked to see if I had accidentally left my phone unlocked, and it was playing something randomly, but that wasn't the case. The sound was coming from outside my room, and I was scared to go outside to see where it was coming from. However, I couldn't just let it be and go back to sleep either. I didn't want to be a character in a horror movie who asks, "Who's there?" when they hear a noise. I didn't want to be the token ethnic minority character who dies first either. That's when a brilliant idea came to my mind: the cameraman never dies. I whipped out my phone and began video recording.

I cautiously opened my room's door and stepped out. The music was still playing loudly, the volume sounding louder as I came out of my room. My hands were shaking, my legs felt weak, and my breath came in short rasps. Just as I was about to go near the source of the sound, my phone flashed a notification saying "storage full," and the video stopped recording. I was terrified and was about to run back to my room when the song changed abruptly to a more soothing song. Somehow, that made it worse. I think the upbeat song was less scary than the lullaby. I slowly lifted my eyes off of my phone to find the TV on. I grabbed the remote and turned it off. I stayed there for a few minutes, and it remained off. It turned out to be perfectly fine the next day, but that didn't stop me from feeling uneasy, especially as I recalled a strange dream that I had right before the music had woken me up. I didn't remember what exactly happened in the dream; I just remembered that it was bizarre and I had done something embarrassing as usual.

On Sunday, I had to attend an event with my friend. We had spent two hours discussing everything about the event the previous evening. I had set aside a beautiful formal outfit for the event. I was excited about wearing it and quickly did my makeup and hairstyle before opening the doors of my closet. I had ironed it the previous night and hung it carefully on a hanger. Unfortunately, it had slid off the hanger and was lying in a heap on the ground. I quickly picked it up, only to find creases all along the front of the dress. I ran to iron it again, trying to speed it up as I only had a few minutes left until my friend came to pick me up. I must not have paid enough attention, as I ended up burning a hole through the body of the dress, right in the middle. The scorched bit was the first part of the dress that pulled your eyes, even when I held the dress afar. In anger, I threw the dress back on the ironing board and returned to the closet.

I was on the verge of tears, desperately trying to find another decent outfit while trying not to cry to keep my eye makeup from streaking down my face. I was tempted to call my friend and tell her to go without me, but I had looked forward to this event for weeks; I really wanted to go. I finally found some outfit and wore it and rushed out of the house. I was not happy, and my brain kept telling me how embarrassed I would be when I went to the event. Everyone would be in their finest attire, and I would be wearing something that I didn't want to wear. It was entirely another matter that many people complimented me on the outfit. I was disappointed even when I returned home. The dress was the first thing I saw when I entered my room, and I burst into tears. I wished that dress would burn out of existence like my dream of wearing it to that event. I would come to regret that wish very soon, when the smell of smoke enveloped my senses and a line of fire quickly zipped across the room.